Sunday, April 6, 2014

Hello Abode & Upcoming Home DIYs

We closed on our house late last week and are now starting the process of making it ours. First up, paint - the easiest and most inexpensive transformation. Our house is currently all white. To my husband's dismay, we will be painting almost every single room. Unfortunately for him, half of the rooms have vaulted ceilings. I say "unfortunately for him" because at a full foot shorter than him, I'd have to teeter on the the highest rungs to be of any effect and that's just plain terrifying to me.

Our new dining room / living room area

Question - we have a pretty sizable entertainment center for the living room that we have no idea where to place. There are only 3 walls in the living room. 1 is a wall full of windows, 2 is a wall of windows and a fireplace, and 3 has a giant cutout to the dining room.

None are optimal, but which is least jarring?

We set out to paint a striped accent wall and the living room a slate gray with blue undertones. As the paint dried, it became more apparent that it was a distinct blue. Oops, would have been smarter to swatch it.

17 comments:

Congrats on your new home! About the entertainment center...if you cover up the 1) wall of windows with curtains (to turn into like a solid wall) is there still enough light from the fireplace windows to give light into the room? If so, I would cover the windows-wall with nice thick curtains, and place the entertainment center there (I'm a fan of watching tv while eating at dinner table, so it seems a good spot to put the tv for easy viewing). Can't wait to see more of your painting projects!

Your home looks lovely! In regards to the placement of the media center, depending on how large it is, would the TV be able to fit above the fireplace? I know some people have said that's not the best place to put a TV, but in this instance, the flow would work (i.e. no blocking the cut out or any of the windows). The only problems are any attached wires and the rest of the media center. I'm assuming/imagining the cords would have to be gathered and secured/hidden along the wall with the remainder of the media center being placed under the window or against the wall with the cutout.

Very cool!! Congrats! Yeah, that room was not designed with a tv in mind! At least it is not like the homes built in the 90s where there is a really tiny cutout for a tv. If you plan on keeping the entertainment center, Olyvia's idea is great!

And please do a curtain tutorial!! I am thinking of sewing curtains for our new place (our closing date is the end of this month, but we may not be able to move in until early May).

Closing on the house last week and already making changes to your home?! Good for you guys! I'd put the TV above the fireplace if the TV must go in that room. I'm guessing with a house this size, there's probably a family room along with a living room, right? Maybe the family room's setup is more suitable for a TV?

The striped wall is coming along great. Paint's one of those things that you can't mess up because you can just re-paint, so don't worry. I'd also be curious to see how the paint looks throughout the day depending on the amount of sunlight.

You'd essentially eliminate windows with the curtains?! People pay to have homes redesigned for MORE windows! sob*Anyway, I don't think the tv-on-a-mantle-above-the-fireplace idea is bad for the tv if you verify that the mantle will properly insulate the tv from the heat from the fireplace. There are many examples (via Houzz.com) of incorporating an entertainment center onto a wall with a fireplace (in the center) and windows flanking it.

Here's an example of the general setup, http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/25633176?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u478&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery4.

You can put the other entertainment stuff below either windows in order to not cover up the windows and the precious light that come through them. Personally, I think it's most attractive when you have built-in bookcases/bookshelves built on either side of the fireplace for that kind of thing.

Hi 0 - thanks for weighing in and no worries about spacing - I think links in general seem to turn up in some kind of justified setting in the comments. The fireplace is definitely the most attractive option, but I still worry about practicality - given that our TV is 7 years old and might require replacement soon, I wonder if everything needs to be reinstalled / rewired if a new TV took its place above the fireplace. For the moment, we'll try out the window thing (don't worry, there are at least 7 other windows that direct light into the living room :) and see how it goes. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to provide feedback!

these pictures look amazing, and i laughed that you are painting each room. we did that when we moved into our house and said never again after. i was pregnant too so that made it really uncomfortable. i can't wait to see what you do with everything.

as for the entertainment unit, is it mandatory that you use it upstairs? above the fireplace is a great way to use that space.